US official asks Pakistan to act against all terror groups

A senior US official has condemned the recent attack on an Indian airbase and urged Pakistan to take the fight to all terrorist outfits working along its borders.

In a separate statement, the US State Department welcomed Pakistan’s anno­unce­ment that it had arrested some suspects during a probe into the attack at the Pathankot airbase.

US official asks Pakistan to act against all terror groups

While addressing a seminar in New Delhi, Under-Secretary of State for Civilian Security Sarah Sewall urged Pakistan to target all terrorist groups, without any exception. “We will continue to work with the government of Pakistan to take the fight to all terrorist networks in the border region and do everything in their power to help India achieve justice for the Mumbai attacks,” she said in her speech, which the State Department also released in Washington. “That is what partners do — we help each other overcome shared struggles and face hard truths,” said the US official while noting that the Mumbai attacks had taken both Indian and American lives.

Ms Sewell said that “the shared trauma of terrorism,” including the recent bloodshed in Pathankot, had brought India and the United States together. “We strongly condemn these attacks and … we recognise that terror is too often on India’s doorstep,” she added. She also stressed the need to strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation between the United States and its allies in the South Asian region.